Long road still ahead as I-75 overpass construction continues in Lowndes County

LOWNDES CO., GA (WALB) - Crews are working to completely rebuild the overpasses at I-75 Exit 22 and Exit 29.

Construction on the project began in August of 2017 and is expected to be completed in May of 2020.

Officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) said that this project is almost halfway complete at this point and it is ahead of schedule.

“You can see that they’re working on the ramps at both locations. They’ve been working on part of the new bridges at both locations," said GDOT Communications Specialist Nita Birmingham.

While the work is 47 percent done, GDOT wants to remind you that there is still a lot of work ahead.

“I think if we’re able to move traffic on to the new lanes after the beginning of the year, I think that’s going to be a significant step forward for the public," said Birmingham.

While Hurricane Irma impacted the project, Hurricane Michael did not slow it down.

“The subcontractor building the overpasses themselves brought in multiple teams to get back on track," said Birmingham.

GDOT plans to build the bridge slightly south of the current one to avoid interrupting traffic and the construction for the project powers on.

“These are going to be wider bridges. There are going to be four lanes, turn lanes, median, shoulder and sidewalks," said Birmingham.

But as the new bridges go up, so does the price. The cost has increased by about $600,000, bringing the total to about $49 million.

“That’s not unusual, especially on a project of this magnitude. Once they get into it, there may be something that they run against that’s going to increase the cost by a small amount," said Birmingham.

And this project is part of a long-term plan to rebuild the older interchanges and overpasses.

“The next two that are up are going to be Exit 2 and Exit 11," explained Birmingham.

GDOT officials want to remind you that this particular exit will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. every evening until this Saturday.